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SEIA is the solar energy industry’s go-to source for the latest coverage on solar power, including U.S. and international policy, research and polls, business and financing trends, and more. Our staff strives to support the media covering solar energy issues and guide our members on effective media outreach with clear statements, background materials, news and multimedia resources.

SEIA is committed to informing policymakers, the media, and the American public about the benefits of solar energy for today’s communities, our economy, and our country.

Following the success of PV America last month in Boston, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has announced a new, regional trade show. Solar Power Mid-Atlantic, co-sponsored by SEIA and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sept. 9 and 10, 2014 and will showcase 25 exhibitors along with a day and a half of educational programming.

A new independent study prepared for the Nevada Public Utilities Commission estimates that the grid benefits of rooftop solar systems installed in the state through 2016 will outweigh costs by more than $36 million, confirming that solar energy can provide real savings for both solar and non-solar customers alike.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today announced it has joined Women in Solar Energy, a 501(c)3 nonprofit and membership organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in one of the fastest-growing industries in the country.

“SEIA takes great pride in being a founding corporate member of Women in Solar Energy,” said SEIA president and CEO Rhone Resch. “We recognize the great strides the solar industry has taken in terms of reaching out to women, and we look forward to continued progress.”

Two solar panel installers filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) this week charging that the state is illegally imposing a property tax on residents who lease solar energy systems.

The Solar Energy Industries Association has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and other leading business groups to protest discriminatory trade policies by India.

After a decision today by the European Commission (EC) to impose provisional duties on Chinese solar exports, John Smirnow, SEIA vice president of trade and competitiveness, issued the following statement:

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today applauded two decisions by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that will help to expand solar energy development within the state. The BPU voted to expand two existing solar programs by Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) – the Solar Loan III program and the Solar 4 All Extension program.

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Homeowners across the United States have begun a rooftop solar revolution. Since 2000, more than 1,460 megawatts of residential solar installations have been installed across the country, and more than 80 percent of that capacity was added in the past four years. In 2012 alone, rooftop solar installations reached 488 megawatts, a 62 percent increase over 2011 installations and nearly double the installed capacity added in 2010.

The media has recently been full of stories about electric utilities being nervous and down right reactionary to adding solar (and wind) on the electric grid. On October 15th, The Huffington Post’s story on the Hawaii Electric Company (HECO) reported, “hundreds of Oahu customers have gotten burned in their transition to solar. They have gotten caught in limbo since September 6 when HECO changed the rules for connecting solar systems.”

In northern New Mexico the sun shines nearly every day of the year. If solar energy is going to be viable anywhere, it will be here—and a small electric cooperative in historic Taos is taking advantage of it. In addition to supporting new solar projects in its service area, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative is offering its customers the opportunity to buy solar energy from “plots” in a “garden” of solar power generation.

Farmers in Japan can now generate solar electricity while growing crops on the same farmland. In April, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) approved the installation of PV systems on existing crop-producing farmland. Previously solar generation on farmland, productive or idle, was prohibited under the Agricultural Land Act.

This co-existence or double-generation is known as “Solar Sharing” in Japan. The concept was originally developed by Akira Nagashima in 2004, who was a retired agricultural machinery engineer who later studied biology and learned the “light saturation point.” The rate of photosynthesis increases as the irradiance level is increased; however at one point, any further increase in the amount of light that strikes the plant does not cause any increase to the rate of photosynthesis.

We typically see photovoltaic panels up on roofs, as they're broad, open surfaces that receive a lot of sunlight. You know what else spends a lot of time in the scorching sun, though? Sidewalks. With that in mind, a team at Washington DC's The George Washington University has created what is claimed to be "the first walkable solar-paneled pathway in the world."